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Topic: Was it the paint or is it anxiety "brain fog"? (Read 583 times)

About 3 days ago I was spray painting some small parts on my deck using "Plasti-Dip," I made sure that when I was spray painting I had my mouth and nose covered with about 3 layers of shirt and would pretty much hold my breathe while spraying, however I did not use any kind of specialty mask for this specific purpose. So I would pretty much spray for about 30 seconds or so while holding my breathe then run inside my house (my deck is very small about 5x10 ft) so its possible some fumes have gotten inside the house.

I did this for about an hour or two in small bursts while fixing spots that needed some touch up and letting them dry. I definitely did not "huff," any of the paint or anything like that and I didnt have any black boogers (the color of the paint) inside my nose.

Once I finished painting I felt a little out of breathe from all the breathe holding and I also felt kinda "high," or something.. well, I have never been high before so I can't really explain how it feels other than I feel like im in a cloud and things feel unreal at times... kinda like the feeling you get when you stare off into space.

I am DEATHLY afraid now that I may have caused some kind of permanent damage to my brain, lungs, or nervous system because of how I feel right now. While the feeling does feel like it comes and goes and is not as bad when I am actually doing something to keep my mind off of it. But when I am just sitting at home or at my desk at work I feel it the most. I don't have any other symptoms, no head aches, no memory loss, or anything like that.

I do have a history of very severe anxiety and i'm praying thats what this is and is sometimes referred to as "brain fog." So based off what I'm saying, is it possible to encounter any kind of permanent iriversible damage from something as innocent as what I have described above?

Because anxiety is always there until it isn't and you're subconsciously (and consiously) looking for reasons to explain that which is only explained by anxiety. Additionally you already were excessively concerned about painting and that concern is now a runaway train helping to manifest false symptoms.

Well then if thats the case then I really need to find a way to snap out of this state... I have so many things to look forward to in the coming weeks and this makes me feel like im really cranky and irritable.

All you really need to do is tell yourself and TRULY ACCEPT "this is anxiety." When the next random symptom comes up, and it will, just remind yourself it's false - it's just a mirage and its anxiety. You have to remember that the sympathetic nervous system is over active in anxiety sufferers and that translates to REAL physical manifestation of symptoms. It's all in the head, true - BUT the head tells the subconcious parts of the brain to prepare for danger. Reacting to that false signal is what feeds it and keeps it going. Not reacting is what makes it go away as the brain becomes retrained to recognize inputs as being non-threatening.

Remember: anxiety manifests itself through physical symptoms that are as real as day. Anxiety cannot hurt you - it can only make you think something will. It's almost like a game - and you are always capable of winning.

The symptoms you describe are just derealization-type symptoms. They are harmless. Some people feel detached from their self, some people feel unreal, some people describe it as dizziness or vertigo. If you take a moment and soften your grip on yourself you'll probably notice your scalp muscles have been tensed, or if you're particularly anxious, the tension will be swimming instead of fixed. Either way, the bottom line is that you are now holding tension in your head which causes these kinds of symptoms.

As mentioned above, the quickest route to recovery is by coming to a genuine understanding and belief that it is all harmless anxiety, which doesn't feel harmless, and is very uncomfortable, but is actually harmless. Once you have this understanding, you must next realize for yourself that the more you try to make it go away, the more you reinforce it and keep it alive. Staying engaged is fine, but don't fearfully and hastily try to find things to keep your mind occupied just to escape it - this will just bury it and it will probably eventually come back. Calm and steady engagement in activities is good. This all embodies the attitude of acceptance.